In total, McKinstry has 15 misconduct disclosures on his FINRA BrokerCheck report. Nine of the 15 have come in the past year, and most of them are FINRA arbitration complaints alleging unsuitable recommendations in oil and gas securities.

In August 2015, McKinstry was discharged from Moloney after the firm conducted an internal review concerning customer complaints and a FINRA cause exam.

Aside from the FINRA permanent bar, this is not McKinstry’s first regulatory misconduct disclosure. In 1998 and 1997, the New York Stock Exchange Division of Enforcement and the Missouri Secretary of State/Securities Division punished McKinstry for his use of margin in his customers’ accounts. The Missouri regulatory authority went so far as to bar McKinstry from opening new margin accounts without obtaining written discretionary authority.

Oil and gas securities have never been safe and without risk. Much of the time, they are unsuitable for most investors due to old age or a conservative risk profile. Despite this fact, many brokers sold oil and gas securities to many of the investors they spoke to.

Many brokers got caught up in the façade that was ever-increasing crude oil, improperly recommending master limited partnerships (“MLPs”), bonds, private placements, stocks, and other oil and gas securities to conservative investors based upon the high yields of these investments rather than the risk to principal. Seeming like a sure bet and untouchable, these brokers neglected to conduct due diligence and investigate these investments and negligently recommended them to customers.

Despite market trends, there is no excuse to depart from time-tested principals brokers are required to employ with their customers, such as recommending suitable investments for each customer and diversifying their portfolios.

Become informed about your rights, explore whether you have a claim and see if we can be of assistance in trying to recover your investment losses. Cases are taken on a contingency fee basis, meaning no attorney’s fee is owed if there is no recovery. Our lawyers have collectively represented hundreds of investors in FINRA or securities arbitration claims and recovered millions of dollars from large and regional brokerage firms.

For more information about the Law Firms, the lawyers, and the oil and gas investment practice area, please visit the oil and gas investment website at: www.oilgasfinraarbitration.com. You can also contact toll-free Scott Silver at: (800) 975-4345 for a confidential, no-cost consultation on the potential for recovery of your investment losses. Our attorneys represent clients nationwide in securities cases to recover investment losses. There is no fee unless we obtain a recovery for you.